


I Used to Say, "Never Say Never"

by missmichellebelle



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Drinking, Drunk Kissing, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Karaoke, M/M, Not!Famous, Past Relationship(s), Post-Break Up, a little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 04:25:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmichellebelle/pseuds/missmichellebelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darren doesn't say what he really means, which is that he's trying to get Chris to drink away all of his pain and sorrow. It's not that Chris hasn't tried, but sitting on his couch and drinking straight from a bottle of tequila isn't exactly the same as Darren taking him out and buying him drinks.</p><p>It's not the best idea, but Chris won't complain. If he gets sick, or ends up sobbing, Darren will be there to take care of him. He always is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Used to Say, "Never Say Never"

"Will you please tell me where we're going?" Chris mumbles, trying to sink further down in the passenger seat as he crosses his arms and stares out the window at the passing traffic.

"Nope," Darren replies cheerily, as he quickly switches lanes. "Still not going to tell you."

"Darren." Chris twists his head around, letting it flop against the seat because he just doesn't have the energy for much else these days. "Please don't do this to me."

He watches the uncertainty flick across Darren's face, the way his eyebrows furrow in indecision.

"I'm going to cheer you up," Darren says, very carefully.

" _Darren_." Chris closes his eyes and wishes he hadn't let his best friend talk him out of his apartment. "Take me home."

"Not happening." Darren's voice is a little forceful, but still soft. It's the voice he uses when he _cares_. "You've hardly left your apartment for a month, and I just…" Chris can see the way Darren's fingers momentarily clench around the steering wheel. "I hate seeing you this way. I want to help."

"Darren—"

"Please?" Darren shoots him a look. "Look, you can like… Not answer my calls for a week or whatever, but I just… Give me tonight, alright?"

Chris knows this is how Darren works. Darren likes to make things better, and if this break up wasn't killing Chris as much as it was, he'd almost think it's been harder on Darren. Which is absolutely ridiculous. But Darren feels a lot, and he keeps turning those big, earnest eyes on Chris like some kind of over-eager puppy. He's being a well meaning best friend, and Chris knows that.

So he just sighs heavily, and Darren smiles, knowing he's won this round.

*

The moment they're down the stairs, Chris wants to go back on how easily he'd given in to Darren's request.

"No," he says, bluntly, but Darren is eagerly tugging him towards a booth without listening.

"It'll be fun," Darren promises him, manhandling him into the seat before sliding in beside him.

"I don't sing in public," Chris hisses, and Darren just grins at him. A waitress saunters up, and Darren sets up a tab, ordering something for Chris before he can protest. "You're getting me drunk," Chris says, the moment it dawns on him.

"Yes. Yes I am." Darren bumps their shoulders together. "You are going to drink your inhibitions away."

Darren doesn't say what he really means, which is that he's trying to get Chris to drink away all of his pain and sorrow. It's not that Chris hasn't tried, but sitting on his couch and drinking straight from a bottle of tequila isn't exactly the same as Darren taking him out and buying him drinks.

It's not the best idea, but Chris won't complain. If he gets sick, or ends up sobbing, Darren will be there to take care of him. He always is.

Darren takes a few shots with him at first, but stops himself. He's driving, as he keeps telling Chris, even as he keeps pushing all sorts of mixed shots and mixed drinks and _everything_ in Chris's direction. He's never had most of them, and some of them are _really_ disgusting, but he finds some new drinks that he likes. Those are the ones he makes Darren try, both of them laughing the whole time.

"Come on," Darren says suddenly, pulling Chris from the booth. His body feels heavy and wiggly, his head buzzing in that pleasant, fuzzy, balloon way that he likes so much. He's still grinning about a story Darren just told, one he's heard half a dozen times already but that is _still_ so fucking funny.

"Where are we going?" Chris asks, words slurring together slightly, as Chris tugs him towards the front of the karaoke bar.

"We are going to sing, Colfer. We are going to sing our fucking _asses_ off."

And Chris giggles, even as he tugs a little bit.

"No, no, I-I can't sing, Dare. Come on, there's—let's have more alcohol instead?" Chris eyes the stage, and then shoots a longing look back at their table and his half-finished drink.

"I will buy you all the booze you want if you sing a song with me." Darren draws an 'x' over his heart, and Chris can't really turn down an offer like that. Never mind that Darren has bought every drink already. Free alcohol is free alcohol, and Chris _really_ loves alcohol right now.

Like. A lot.

"Okay, okay, okay," Chris says through his laughter as they wait at the foot of the stairs leading up to the stage. Darren grins at him through the darkness and flashing lights, and the people on stage finish up—whatever song they were doing, Chris wasn't listening.

Chris doesn't even know what song him and Darren are doing. That's probably a problem. Darren doesn't seem to think so, as he tugs Chris up on the stage and hands him a microphone. There are other people in the bar, and Chris is pretty sure they're looking at him, but the lights are so bright on the stage that the only other person he can see is Darren.

And Darren isn't scary to sing in front of. Him and Darren sing together all the time.

As the song starts up, Chris recognizes it instantly and doubles over laughing, and Darren just grins at him.

"[ _I remember when we broke up—the first time_.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcMn_Eu-XTE)" Darren tosses his head sassily to the side, popping out his hip as he sings at Chris. " _Saying, "this is it, I've had enough." 'Cause, like, we hadn't seen each other in a month, when you said you needed "space"—what?_ "

Chris knows he should be singing along, that's the point of all this, but Darren is emoting into the song that he can't stop giggling like mad. It's not true, not for his break up, but—but that doesn't really matter, does it? Because it doesn't have to be perfectly applicable.

" _Then you come around again and say, "baby—_ " Darren falls to his knees on the stage and shuffles towards Chris, who feels like he's going to collapse from how much he's laughing and can't breathe. " _I miss you and I swear I'm gonna change—trust me."_ " Chris pushes Darren away, and Chris thinks maybe the audience is laughing. Either that or his laughter is suddenly _really_ loud. 

" _Remember how that lasted for a day?_ " Darren is standing again, still close and looking at Chris with wide, encouraging eyes. " _I say, "I hate you," we break up, you call me—_ " Darren wilts into Chris's side, placing his head on Chris's shoulder and batting his eyelashes. " _I love you._ "

Chris pushes him away again, giggling, and Darren bounces down the stage.

" _Ooh, we called it off again last night, but ooh, this time, I'm telling you, I'm telling you—_ " Darren looks at Chris significantly the whole time, and Chris feels a surge of courage, of _something_ , and he raises the microphone to his mouth for the first time and starts singing.

" _We are never, ever, ever getting back together! We—_ " And Darren pops up behind him, backing him up and surprising Chris into laughing through the entire next line. He turns on Darren, pointing at him, and having so much more fun than he ever thought he could have drunk and singing (well, maybe that's not entirely true). " _You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me! But we are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together_."

Maybe singing it should hurt, but it's actually a little freeing.

"Like, ever," Darren adds, and Chris falls towards him, laughing.

They pass lines back and forth, Chris trying to actually get through the lyrics while Darren eggs him on, and Chris is glad that Darren talked him into this. It's fun. It's a lot of fun. And, really, Chris should trust Darren with things like this. After all, they're best friends.

" _I used to think that we were forever ever, and I used to say, "Never say never…"_ " Chris props one hand up by his ear like a telephone. "Ugh, so he calls me up and he's like, " _I still love you_ "," he pitches his voice lower and mimicking at the end.

"Wow, what a dick," Darren randomly interjects, and Chris nearly doesn't make it, slumping against Darren and pressing his lips together to keep all the laughter in.

"And-and I'm like—" Chris laughs, though.

"That sounds exhausting," Darren supplies, and Chris just nods. "So you're like, never getting back together, right?"

"Like never!" Chris shouts, going along with it, and Darren sings, " _no!_ "

There's no one waiting to go up on stage after them, so Darren keeps them up there. Apparently their entire song selection is made up of angry break up songs, but the audience doesn't mind and, honestly, neither does Chris. He's spent the last month curled up with sad, depressing songs about how much he fucked up and how he'll never find anyone else ever again.

But maybe this is what he needed all along.

Because fuck whoever breaks his heart. He deserves better, doesn't he?

" _B[ut since you've been gone! I can breathe for the first time. I'm so moving on—yeah yeah. Thanks to you now I get what I want. Since you've been gone!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7UrFYvl5TE)_ "

They make it through about four songs before Chris is feeling like his body might give out, and Darren escorts him back to the table while the crowd cheers them on.

"I need more alcohol," Chris moans, as Darren practically lays him down in their booth.

"I think you need water, rockstar," Darren teases, and Chris can't help but grin up at him goofily. "Maybe some food?"

"Oh god, food, that sounds _so fucking good_."

Chris ends up eating a lot of mozzarella sticks.

And then Darren ends up getting him more alcohol, wow, Darren is the best.

"I am so drunk," he tells Darren, pressing his face against the cold tabletop because it feels so good.

"Yes you are, boozy. Want to go home?" Darren asks, petting up and down Chris's back. Darren is so _nice_.

"You are the bestest best friend. _Ever_."

"Fuck yeah I am." Darren laughs. "Do you want to go home?"

"Um." Chris thinks long and hard about it for a second. "I want—can I sing one more time?"

Darren's eyebrows shoot so far up on his head, Chris thinks they might come off. That would be weird. Darren would be weird without eyebrows. But Chris would love him, anyway.

"I'd still love you if you didn't have eyebrows," Chris tells him, because Darren should know that, and Darren smiles as he helps Chris sit up.

"You better. You want to sing again? Really?"

"Yeah, yeah, just—just one more. Just me, okay? I just—just me." That's important. Darren looks unsure, but Chris nods several times and—woah. _Woah_. That makes his head feel really weird.

"Okay. I'm going to walk you to the stage, though, alright?"

" _Kay_ ," Chris drawls, and it's kind of nice, letting Darren guide him back up to the stage. There aren't as many people anymore, but Chris doesn't care. He's singing for _him_ , not for _them_. And maybe a little for Darren. But _just a little_.

Darren leads him up to the stage, and Chris grins gleefully when he sees that they have the song he wants. He shoots surreptitious looks at Darren—because it's a surprise, and he doesn't want him peeking.

True to his word, he doesn't get up on stage with Chris, staying right by the stairs as Chris wobbles on doe legs. He feels like Bambi. It's a weird thing to feel like. But he shakes it off, enjoying the way his head feels like it might just swing all the way off, as the music starts up and he bounces along with it.

He hears Darren laugh from the side of the stage, and he shoots him a smile.

"[ _White knuckles, and sweaty palms from hanging on too tight_.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQNpFzwhGfc)" He loves this song, and he loves that he remembers all of the words. Maybe. He feels like he does.

" _Eyes on fire, eyes on fire, and they burn from all the tears! I've been cryin', I've been cryin', I've been dyin' over you!_ "

Through all the alcohol, Chris thinks he gets what Darren was trying to get him to see tonight. Or understand. Or something. And he feels it as he bounces on stage and sings, sings what he _feels_ , and he wishes he could see that stupid face in the audience, see it understand what Chris is singing and that he's singing it to him.

" _I think I've finally had enough, I think I maybe think too much, I think this might be it for us—blow me one last kiss!_ "

Chris actually wishes Darren was on stage with him, just so he could dance with someone. Because wow, he feels like dancing. He feels _great_. And awesome. And happy. And _free_.

" _I think that life's too short for this, want back my ignorance and bliss, I think I've had enough of this—blow me one last kiss!_ "

*

"That was fun," Chris tells Darren as they leave, arm tight around his waist as they walk. Darren's arm is around his shoulder, and being this close to another person is so _nice_.

"I'm glad you had fun." Darren squeezes his arm. It's awesome. "That was the whole point."

"Well I had so, so, _so_ much fun. You are so much fun. That was so much fun. We should—we should have so much fun _all the time_."

Darren laughs, loud and wonderful.

"I should get that in writing. As soon as you remember that I took you to a karaoke bar and got you wasted, I think you'll stop being my friend."

"I remember!" Chris throws up one of his arms in declaration, and it feels like loose spaghetti. Oh god, Darren should take him to get spaghetti. That sounds like a great idea. Wait, no, he—there's something important he's supposed to say right now. "Wait, I—no, I'll always be your friend. You're my best friend." Chris lets his head drop against Darren's shoulder and smiles up at him.

"That works out fucking great, because you're my best friend, too, Chris." Darren squeezes him closer again. Like a hug. Darren gives such good hugs, even weird sideways ones.

"No, like—Darren, Darren, wait. _Wait_." Chris stops walking, stumbling a bit on the sidewalk, and Darren does stop. Because Darren listens to him, and Chris is so, so lucky to have Darren. Because Darren is great.

Chris shifts around so that he can put both his hands on Darren's shoulders and looks him in the eye. Because this is important.

"You are my _best_ friend, like. My _best_ friend. Not just—not just a good one, you know? But the _best_ one." Darren is smiling, so Chris thinks he gets it. "And I have been—I suck, I just. I hate how I've been, and what he did to me, and I just. I'm sorry, and you're so awesome, and you made me feel so much _better_ because you are the _best_ —"

"Chris, Chris, hey—"

Oh fuck, when did he start crying? Ugh, god, crying is _weird_ and gross and it makes his head pound but man. Life fucking _sucks_.

"Shh, shh, it's okay. Tonight was fun, yeah?"

Oh. Darren is hugging him. Chris nods against his shoulder, face pressed into his shirt. He smells like alcohol, and shirt, and sweat, and Darren. Chris hugs back.

"But that doesn't mean all the bad is just gone, but… But it's better, yeah? We'll make it better. It'll be okay. I'm here, alright?"

"You are—you are _so nice_ ," Chris sobs, and Darren pets his back and holds him. "You are my _best friend_ and I _love you_ , and I am—I am never dating anyone, not ever, okay? Never let me date again, it hurts _too bad_."

"Well," Darren whispers, and they're swaying, and it's nice. "I don't think I can make any promises, but. I can take you home, and we can watch a movie, and eat ice cream."

"I kind of might throw up," Chris whispers back.

"Okay, well, you can throw up, that's cool, too. I'll hold your hair back."

"I don't have hair that needs to be held back." Chris giggles, just a little.

"Jesus, even drunk off your ass, you're still a fucking smart ass." Darren laughs, and it helps. A little. "Seriously, though, Chris… Hey, look at me a sec?"

Chris lifts his head, and it's so _heavy_ , when did his head turn into a _rock?_ But he lifts it, blinking his eyes as he looks at Darren.

"You know that, whatever you need, even if it's just someone to keep you company… I'm there, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're my… You're the best, Darren." Because he is, and if Chris has Darren, it won't be so bad in the end, right? It won't hurt anymore. Chris presses his hand to Darren's face and smiles. "You are just… The best. And you make me feel so much better." Darren grins, and nuzzles aggressively into Chris's hand, and Chris laughs. Because Darren is so—is so—so—

He lunges forward, and presses their lips together, because—because it's _Darren_. And because kissing is nice, and Chris misses kissing, and _Darren_. And Darren, he kisses Chris back, and that's even better, and Chris just wants to kiss and kiss and kiss forever because it feels so fucking awesome.

But then they stop.

Why did they stop?

"Woah, woah, hey." Darren is stepping back, and Chris feels unstable without Darren's body _right there_. Like he doesn't have feet anymore.

And Chris _kissed_ him. _Fuck_.

Darren didn't _like_ it.

"Fuck, I—I'm sorry, I don't." Why did he do that?

"No, hey, shut up, I'm not—okay, I'm a little surprised, but I'm not freaking out. Chris— _Chris_ , look at me? Am I freaking out?"

Chris makes himself look, feeling suddenly miserable, and shakes his head.

"Exactly. I just—you're drunk, okay? And hey, as much as I'll never turn down making out with you, that's something you should decide when you're a lot more sober." Darren looks at him, so seriously, and Chris feels like crying.

"Are you mad at me?" His voice wobbles, and Darren's eyes widen. And then Darren is holding him again, and it's so much better.

"No, no, of course not. Fuck. I just…"

"It was bad, wasn't it? That's why I got broken up with."

"Chris, seriously." Darren pulls back from frantically petting his hair and back, so that they can look at each other again. He doesn't _look_ mad or disgusted, but that doesn't mean he _isn't_. "For a drunken kiss, that was pretty phenomenal, alright?"

"But—"

"Hey, okay, here, I'll make you a deal. Let's get you home, and into pajamas, and around a toilet if you feel like you're gonna blow chunks—" Darren pauses, waiting, and Chris shakes his head. "We'll drink some water, take some advil, sleep a bit, and we can talk about this tomorrow, alright?"

"You _promise?_ "

"I promise. Times infinity." Darren smiles at him, and then leans forward and kisses Chris's temple, and, well. It helps. Chris isn't sure why, but it makes him feel better.

"Okay," he whispers. "Will you stay?"

"You couldn't pay me to leave, Colfer. I'm not going anywhere."

**Author's Note:**

> Songs used:
> 
> "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" - Taylor Swift  
> "Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson  
> "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" - P!nk


End file.
